Spikes top Brooklyn; a win off division lead

August 10, 2013

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - A pair of rain delays could not stop the State College Spikes on Friday night as Mitch Harris tossed four shutout innings of relief for the win as the Spikes defeated the Brooklyn Cyclones, 4-1, at MCU Park to get within a game of the Pinckney Division lead.

Harris (3-1), who made his longest outing as a professional in the victory, took over for Kevin Herget in the second inning after the delays forced Herget to the sidelines for the remainder of the evening. The Naval Academy grad struck out two batters and gave up just two hits and a walk.

Play was first halted for 28 minutes between the first and second innings, with a second rain shower forcing both teams off the field for another 58 minutes. State College (30-20) had taken the lead on Alex De Leon's sacrifice fly just prior to the second delay, and then added another run on Steven Ramos's single one batter after play reconvened.

Mason Katz smashed an RBI triple in the fourth inning to add another Spikes run, with Brettt Wiley contributed the other run-scoring hit for the State College.

Ramos, the New York-Penn League's batting leader at .364, and Katz each produced multiple hits for the Spikes.

Jacob Booden (2) earned the save with two scoreless innings to finish the game for State College. Booden gave up three hits and a walk but struck out two.

Miller Diaz (4-2), scheduled to start Tuesday's New York-Penn League All-Star Game for the National League squad, took the loss for Brooklyn (24-26) after yielding De Leon's sacrifice fly just before the second delay. Diaz was pulled after one-plus inning and was tagged with two run on a hit, two walks and a hit batsman.

Akeel Morris finished the game for the Cyclones and struck out the last six batters he faced.

L.J. Mazzilli delivered a double for the only extra-base hit by a Cyclone. Matt Oberste's sacrifice fly scored the lone Brooklyn run.

Saturday, the Spikes face the Cyclones in the second game of a three-game series at MCU Park.